Casbylon
by Theovert
Summary: An American soldier in the era of the Vietnam War makes his way via train to an Animal Crossing town located in a secluded region of North Vietnam and logs down his daily encounters in a journal. Along the course of his adventure, he survives various bombings, fights off cannibal lolitas, and is oblivious to the fact that he's digging his own grave. [NAME SUBJECT TO CHANGE] [WIP]
1. Month 1: Don't Leave Hell Waiting

**MONTH 1: DON'T LEAVE HELL WAITING**

June 9th, 1970

05:57 AM

My name is Kaiser Romez. I was born on the night of September 12th, 1951. Technically, I was born known as Caesar, after my father. I liked how it sounded with a hard C better, so I called myself Kaiser since I was, if I can remember correctly, 10 years old, and everyone's been calling me that ever since. I was drafted for the war in Vietnam about 16 years after I saw the light of day for the first time. Let me tell you, it's the closest emulation you can get to hell on earth. But that's not really the point I'm trying to convey. The point is, in every decrepit, corpse-ridden wasteland, there's some kind of sanctuary. A sanctuary where you can let stride the pains of life itself and finally feel like an actual, sane human being again.

I'm currently on a train headed for some town called "Casbylon", which was regarded by my comrades as some kind of "lost city", forgotten by humanity itself. It was rumored to be in a remote, heavily forested area of North Vietnam, so I'll be damned if I get off this train unscathed. Something awful is bound to happen, but so far, things have been pretty bizarre. Some guy dressed in a cat suit sat next to me and asked questions about my life. I'm completely serious. He was speaking in inaudible gibberish, too, but I could understand him for some reason. I have a feeling things are going to get weirder in the future. I'm ready. I'm completely ready to get weird. Let's get freaky.

10:04 AM

Well, damn. This train ride was longer than I thought. Five hours, I'm glad it's over. I'm stepping off the train right now, going to see what happens. Probably going to get killed by some gooks. It happens so frequently it's surprising when you actually manage to go a day without one of your comrades going down.

Alright, this is the creepiest f**king thing I've ever seen. Remember that fool from earlier dressed in the cat suit? Apparently, there are more of them in some kind of absurd cult full of animal imitators. There was a Shih Tzu, a Rabbit, a Wolf, a Pig, a Cow, and a small Bear.

"Welcome to Casbylon!", they all shouted in unison.

I'm not sure what the hell is going on, and why they think I'm their leader, but if this is the sanctuary everyone was talking about, they must have been joking around. I swear to god, if this is some kind of sick joke, I'm going to gun down everyone here, and everyone who told me about this god damned clown town. I'll try pulling off one of their suits later, see what happens. Aw, who am I kidding? It's probably some kind of federal offense to pull off their suits, and if these guys are considering me their mayor, that'd be kinda cruel anyways. But still, I'm not a goddamn 5-year old, and this isn't happy wappy vietnam fun time.

12:31 PM

What the f**k. They aren't animal suits. They're actual, anthropomorphic animals running around, talking about stuff. I don't know what kind of chemicals we dumped on these guys a long time ago, but whatever it was, it probably made the geneva conventions crap its pants. Speaking of which, nobody wears pants except me. I engaged in casual small-talk with a couple of them, mainly the rabbit. His name is Genji. I like this guy. A lot. He enjoys doing athletic things such as working out, and seems pretty oblivious when it comes to the events going on in the outside world, especially with the war and all that. Poor little sod's probably going to get blown up some time later. Oh well. We're all disposable here.

17:23 PM

I'm starting to settle in to Casbylon now and it's not as creepy as I thought. The "inhabitants" are pretty polite and this place is pretty secluded. From a bird's eye view it just looks like one of vietnam's lonely, hostile forests. However, it might lead to herbicides getting pumped on us in large quantities, and if that's the case, I'll probably die within the week. And if I die, I'm going to welcome death with open arms.

June 10th, 1970

07:49 AM

The first night went well. Slept under the stars in a rudimentary cot that Genji helped me set up. Finished up the last of my rations for breakfast today, gonna see if Pekoe is willing to cook me up something good. I got word that I was supposed to check in with the secretary, Isabelle, today, and I was supposed to perform some tasks around the town to gain respect from my peers. Gee willakers, I guess manual labor doesn't go underappreciated in this town. Lay it on me, 'Belle, I'll run laps around this town without breaking a sweat.

09:00 AM

I checked in with isabelle and she wants me to start out by catching fish. There's a zig-zaggy river coming right through the town, with a single old cobblestone bridge connecting the two sides together. I guess I'd better get my start on my community service by doing what she asked before I get into anything else-or more important.

09:57 AM

Caught three fish, delayed turning them in so I could explore the town in more detail. I consider the two sides separated by the river as different "districts". More of the houses seem to be on the south-west side of town. I call this the "Neighbourhood" district, to make this place sound more homely. Less of the houses are on the north-east side, which I consider the "Outlandish" district, as the overgrowth on that side is more abundant. There's the occasional patch of tall grass, but most of the neighbourhood district's grass is trampled, making a sort of path between houses. Also, strangely, there's a pawn shop in the Neighbourhood. I don't know what gave these little bastards the idea to build a goddamn pawn shop in the middle of their town, but that's not my problem. Also, strange note, there's a little pier down on the south side of town that seems to be abandoned. Nobody is really using it, dunno what it could be for. Maybe some kind of stationary speedboat drive-by platform? Who knows.

20:30

Isabelle made me do more community service for the rest of the day. I had to catch some bugs for no reason. Our discussion about "Why are my tasks so mundane and useless" got cut off when air raid sirens howled outside. We ran out of the town hall. The sky was lit up by the red glare of the sirens and the only thing I could think of was "We're f**ked." I guess everyone was prepared, because apparently a storm of heavy explosives coming down from above didn't seem to phase the villagers very much, as if it's a regular thing. I felt like the only one with shell shock, but these fools were staying calm and retreating into their houses to pray that they wouldn't be the ones to be blown up today. The pilot of the plane must have been pretty stupid, because the bombs seemed to kill more planes than people. I sustained minor injuries, with a couple gashes in my right arm and chest from the shrapnel flying goddamn everywhere, and before I knew it, Naomi's house was blown to smithereens. I never liked Naomi, I'm glad it was her. Eventually, the bombing stopped, followed up by a large explosion far off in the distance, like a plane crashing or something. I had to delay writing this entry because it's hard writing in a f**king journal when you're being bombed from every end. Lemme tell ya, it's not pleasant. At all.

June 11th, 1970

6:57 AM

After the bombing, Genji and I were thinking as to how they could have zoned us out. Of course, I've only been here for a day or two, but Genji's pretty wise when it comes to the origins of this town, considering it's where he was born, as he told me. We eventually came to the conclusion that some sort of hijacked anti-aircraft cannon took out the bottom of a B-52 or something, dropping the payload on us. Who knows? 2 days AWOL and I'm already starting to forget about our own aircraft.

June 12th, 1970

12:23 AM

It's hard getting to sleep. It's not that my tent is sh*tty, or the sleeping bag is itchy, or the f*cking scorpions keep getting into my tent. I can't stop thinking about my family, or going back home. I know it sounds sappy, but honestly, I just have to get this sh*t off my chest. I remember my sister. Her name was Jen. Jen Romez. What a beautiful name. We loved each other like there was no tomorrow. We did everything together. God damn. Ever since I was drafted, I've slowly been forgetting what she looks like. From what I (vaguely) remember, she had silky white hair that she always kept in a bun. When she let her hair down, I would always gently feel how soft it was… Also, if I remember correctly, there wasn't really an age gap between us. We were born on the same day. She was the sweetest person ever. She tended to say non-confrontational and would get over things really quickly. I was more of the rowdy one, though, but no matter how many times I pushed her around and teased her, she knew it was all in good fun. In retrospect, I shouldn't have. Sure, it's just childish instinct to tease around with people, but I was NOT PREPARED to be drafted, and even the thought of coming back alive, let alone with most of my limbs sewn on, still makes me shudder. I wish I had been nicer to her before I went. And on the day I was scheduled to leave for the military, I still remember that day, 3 years ago. My mother cradling a crying Jen in her arms, reassuring her I was going to be alright. That I was going to come back fine. That the war would end in the blink of an eye. Her screams of "No! You'll get killed out there! Brother, I love you!" as I slowly made my way out the door, my dad nudging me along as if he f*cking advocated the whole charade. If my father somehow finds this journal on my lifeless husk, let me just get this off my chest real quick: F*ck you, Caesar. _**F*ck you.**_

June 19, 1970

13:23 PM

The week has been pretty melancholy. Little more than working, mostly consisting of pulling carts and tilling crop fields. There have been some rumors going around town of someone getting our location. We might be getting a new neighbour sometime soon. Strangely enough, everyone seems to be talking about the possible immigrants like they're some sort of lolitas or dandies. Like, all prissy-prissy pink pastel pansies and sh*t. God damn, I hate pastels. They're the colors of ugly and wimpy.

June 24, 1970

15:06 PM

Genji got a short-wave radio the other day. Most of the town gathers in Genji's house now at predetermined intervals to listen to the nearby signals the viet cong establishment nearby is sending out. It'd be a good idea to arm this town. I still have retention of most of my training, so I'm going to see if I can train these little fools on how to work a M1911.

June 25, 1970

13:02 PM

Today begins the first day of training for the Casbylonian militia, our soon-to-be primary source of protection against the harsh outside world. Compared to other places, Casbylon would be a pretty low-value target for those looking for resources and such, as we're kinda lame in that sense. But currently I'm the only one who knows how to work a goddamn peashooter, so we're going to have to change that sooner or later. I'm going to check back in later after training, see what happens.

19:30 PM

Well. It went alright. Almost got my hand blown off by Wolfgang, but at least the majority of the town knows how to kill people now. I only came in with two firearms, though. A M1911 with no ammunition and a partially-working M4 Carbine. The M4 is prone to jamming, but we made do with it anyways. Unless we somehow get a shipment of ammo in, we'll do lessons on pistol-whipping tomorrow.

June 28, 1970

09:32 AM

Word has been going around that this weird, freaky, pastel colored lolita culture is going to assimilate the world someday. I'm not really sure what it has to do with the war and all that, but these little sh*ts keep talking about it like the dandies of the world are going to launch a full-blown assault on us. Damn.


	2. Month 2: The Colors of Complacency

**MONTH 2: THE COLORS OF COMPLACENCY**

July 1, 1970

06:12 AM

The people spoke the truth. Today we got a new arrival. From the moment she stepped out of the train, I knew we were in some deep sh*t. She was the kind of person that would make a combat hardened Viet Cong have thoughts of suicide. As she stepped off of the train, she had a basket of rose petals she was tossing behind her as she slowly stepped down onto the cold concrete floor of the Casbylonian train station. I picked up one of the petals. This wasn't drawn on with a crayon. This was some sort of perfect hybrid flower. Something is off about this woman even IF the little sh*ts that inhabit this slum-city are welcoming her in with open arms. Her dress is pink, lacy, and looks like it'd make good kindling for a fireplace. She has her hair dyed pink and kept up in a ponytail, and she's wearing a hair bow just for good measure. In her hands she's holding a parasol that looks far too frilly to actually be useful. If THIS is the sexy Vietnamese prostitute we got promised a while back, she'd probably go for about $20 grand. What a pretentious little sh*t.

09:43 AM

Please note that I was hiding behind a bush and looking through the windows of the train station to avoid making contact with this goddamn fool. I thought it would be a good idea to hide in my house the rest of the day, then to pull off a little trick I like to call "Mister Sandman" later tonight. She seems to be going door-to-door like some kind of self-absorbed jehovah's witness dressed in pink. She just hit Genji's house, which is the house closest to mine, and I'm using "closest to mine" very loosely. Oh sh*t. She's knocking on my door. Uh. Nobody is home. I'll check back later once I make it through.

12:03 PM

Somehow, I managed to make it out of that debacle in peace. She started off by knocking on my door, as I expected. I decided to close the blinds and turn off the lights, hiding in the attic until she went. But she didn't. Like some tenacious little dirtbag, she kept standing there. Waiting. I eventually grew a pair and opened the door, bracing myself for the worst.

"Hi there, I'm Lilly, your new neighbor! I lack a home, but perhaps you'd let me stay the night…?" She said in the sweetest voice she could emulate.

I initially felt unsure, but then I realized I'd be able to wipe her out when she's sleeping. So vulnerable. I might consider doing more lewd things to her in the future. So I obliged and she decided to stay the night, constantly droning on about how great her flowers are in her hometown of "Dandelyn". Dirty little rat tried to find out what I was jotting down in my journal, I told her I was writing an erotic story consisting of Genji and Wolfgang engaging in bloody anal sex. She stayed far away from me for the rest of the day. Works every time, heh.

July 2, 1970

05:40 AM

I woke up way too early today. I was thinking about Lilly again. How she could have taken me out as easy as I could have taken her out. At least I got through this night without getting my neck slit. I'm going to let her settle in and get to know me a little more, until the day finally comes. She's still sleeping. Everyone is still sleeping. I'm sitting on a bench in one of the less overgrown patches of land, and I can just barely see the light of dawn coming in. It's a beautiful thing. I enjoy it. When everyone besides you is asleep while you're still awake. Like a backstage pass to ring in the new morning.

09:00 AM

Lilly just woke up about a half hour ago and is cooking breakfast, frying some odd-looking bacon on my electric hot plate. I asked her why it looked weird. She didn't say anything, she just told me it was good. She asked if I wanted to try a bite, I declined. I'll eat my own damn food, thank you very much. She probably poisoned the bit on the fork she was offering, so I guess I made a good call.

12:43 PM

I went over to Genji's house to play a game of chess, then discussed ways to murder Lilly. We were planning on a couple of ways. I decided to not go with the classic "Mister Sandman" method of homicide. We wanted something creative. **Plan A** was to both sneak into my house at night, with Genji wielding some sort of blunt weapon. Genji recently installed a refrigerator into his place, so we were thinking that we could attack Lilly with the blunt weapon to inflict a concussion. Then, while she's passed out, we'd stuff her into the fridge and bury it outside, with an extension cord coming out so it freezes her. **Plan B**was to resort to more brutal methods. We'd take the same blunt force trauma route as last time, but this time we'd lock her in my basement, stripped of most of her clothes. Her clothes would be scattered around the room, but we'd put razor blades and other sharp objects all over the floor of the room, with the clothes on every corner of the room, forcing her to trudge through every pushpin-lined corner of the damn basement to get her clothes back. And once she's got that done, she's free to go. But incase she's sidestepping everything, we'll outfit her with an anklet with a small, remotely-detonated charge on it. The charge detonates, probably blowing her ankle off, and most likely causing her to fall into the razor blades and pushpins. God, I am so evil.

23:34 PM

Genji and I's setting up of the entire charade was cut to a halt as soon as he ran out of straight razors. He only had about 3 of them. We're going to make a run to the post office tomorrow and steal some of their pushpins, and scrounge around the town for any more sharp objects. Currently the plan is going along smoothly. Lilly doesn't suspect a thing. She's just sitting alone, on a bench, on the other side of town, eating a kebab made out of that weird, bacon-meat she was eating earlier. She really likes that sh*t for some reason. It's the only thing she seems to eat. What a carnivore.

July 5, 1970

11:56 AM

Genji and I are done setting up the razor basement. I managed to scavenge a little bit of powder from the remaining ammunition I had left. The anklet charge isn't as powerful as I anticipated it to be, and it has a pretty short fuse, but at least it'll work. All I need to do now is lure that little jerkoff into taking the bait and we'll be home free, lolita-free in no time.

July 6, 1970

03:43 AM

I can't do it. I can't f*cking do it. We all thought it was a good idea. Something hit me. I don't know what the hell I was thinking. I spared her, Genji and I dumped the razor blades in the river, and we're saving the ankle charge for some other use. I know, these journal entries have been increasingly hostile in the recent few days, but what if this was my sister? And besides, I could probably put her to good use doing manual labor or training the militia or something, I don't know. I just threw a blanket over her and tucked her in. God, she's so innocent. She's family now. I love you, Lilly.

10:50 AM

Lilly woke up and I told her the entire story in the least awkward way I could. She was shocked, yeah, and looked pretty damn terrified, but acknowledged my generosity. Then, once I thought we were going to leave all of this behind us, she came clean. Apparently, she's a cannibal. Not, like, voodoo kind of cannibal. She doesn't eat people raw. No. She cooks it up into a goddamn salisbury steak and then eats it. She told me that the habit all started when her hometown had a food shortage. Her family was poor, and had to resort to cannibalism in order to survive, and I guess she just dragged the tradition down the family tree. That's really creepy, but I still don't know why she chose the "lolita" lifestyle instead. Maybe she's trying to deny her past? Is she insecure? Hell, I don't know. But, honestly, I feel a bit less disturbed now that we've exchanged our dirty little secrets with each other.

July 7, 1970

14:23 PM

Now that Lilly and I have come to an understanding, at least we can now look at eachother without getting disturbed. To my surprise, Lilly asked me if I could help her deal with her cannibalistic lifestyle. She was getting sick of her impulses. She couldn't take another day with having to deal with her bloodlust. I obliged, purely out of respect. I had a feeling she was going to keep it like her dirty little secret for the rest of her life, or at least until she ate herself. Aparently, this isn't the case. I like this chick. She might be pretentious, but she gained a lot of respect points with me for wanting to curb herself of her carnivorous tendencies.

July 8, 1970

13:32 PM

Digging around the ruins of Naomi's house, I found an electric cattle prod. I might be able to put this to use for disciplinary reasons. At least it came with batteries. Our "rehabilitation" begins today. I'm going to check in later to see how it goes.

15:12 PM

She's terrified. I pulled out the cattle prod. She ran into the back corner and started having a panic attack. Apparently she doesn't like shock therapy very much. I don't like getting electrocuted either, but worst case scenario I accidentally burn her. It's not like she's running through a hallway filled with tasers while ass-naked or something. That would be awesome though.

16:43 PM

Strapped her down to a chair and forced her to eat fresh vegetables. She resisted quite a bit until I poked her with the cattle prod, to which she screamed bloody murder. A couple villagers came and knocked on the door later on. Turned off the lights. They'll never suspect a thing.

July 9, 1970

10:32 AM

Aparently my rehabilitation methods have been causing controversy around the town. Overheard a couple people claim that I torture her down in the basement. I would have, if Genji and I had gotten around to actually pulling off the razor blade stunt. Blegh, that would have been nasty, even for MY tastes.

11:07 AM


	3. Month 3: Hollowpoints

**MONTH 3: HOLLOW POINTS**

August 1st, 1970

16:03 PM

Food supplies are running low. That's a first. Genji and I are going to make a run to the nearest town that ain't Casbylon, in hopes that we might obtain some food, maybe a couple weapons or ammunition for the weapons we already have. I'm wielding my 1911 and Genji is going to rifle-whip people with his M4. Wish us luck, and hope Lilly doesn't eat everyone while we're gone. I'm bringing my journal with me, just incase something goes terribly awry.

August 2, 1970

05:32 AM

Genji and I have been riding on this f*cking train for hours and hours. I don't know what the hell is taking it so long, and why the hell Casbylon is in the middle of nowhere, and those are questions I soon wish to find out. So far, the train ride has been decent. Genji lost his train ticket, sadly, but he snuck in and jumped on at the last minute. What a sneaky little fox.

07:48 AM

THE TRAIN BLEW UP. THE TRAIN BLEW UP. IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVES ON THE TRAIN TRACKS. THE TRAIN WAS DERAILED. THE CONDUCTOR WAS KILLED. THE PASSENGERS WERE GUNNED DOWN. WE'RE BEING SHOT AT BY VIET CONG. GENJI IS OUT OF AMMO. PLAY DEAD. PLAY DEAD. THE COMMUNIST DOGS WON'T FIND US WHEN WE PLAY DEAD.

07:57 AM

Hot damn. They tried to finish us off. Coup de grace us. We were playing dead, and the strategy was going along well until they started shooting every dead body in the dead, for extra verification that they were indeed deader than dead. Genji and I grabbed them and dashed them against the sharp edge of the train wall. The hole that had been blown in it made the edges of the wall razor-sharp. We used their own weapons against them and gunned down the rest, putting down the rest of the survivors that the Viet Cong forgot to take out. Poor fools. They were normal, innocent people. Just like I was at some point in my past. Oh well. That's what war does to you. At least Genji and I have weapons now. Three AK47s and lots of ammo & miscellaneous explosives. Now we're talking, baby. Also, it's strange to note this, but the insurgents that attacked us were the same type of

Undisclosed Time

My watch ran out of batteries. Genji and I are stuck in the wilderness of Northern Vietnam, and currently we're walking along the train tracks, praying to god by name that we'll hit a train station soon enough. AH-1s are buzzing past us from above. I hope they don't see us and start gunning us down. Let's just hope that Genji and I can make it through without getting any of our limbs lobbed off.

August Somethingsomething, 1970

Undisclosed Time

Hours of walking and Genji and I haven't hit civilization in a while. We crossed a couple bridges and, so far, we've seen no trains come by since the bombing of the train we were on. Genji is hungry and cold, and he told me that he'd rather not be stranded in the lonely forests of Vietnam with anyone else. I agree with him completely.

August Ehhh, 1970

03:49 AM

We've hit a helicopter wreckage. UH-1 to be exact. Was carrying some armed troops, Genji and I managed to salvage more ammunition for our M4, and I replaced my watch with one I got off a dead soldier. Glad I wasn't one of these poor suckers. They were sadly informed that war is hell in probably the most direct way possible. At least we're several less men away from having Casbylon discovered by the greater of two evils.

07:54 AM

Genji and I have been walking along the tracks 'till the crack of dawn. We see smoke in the distance, we're going to head towards it to see what the hell's going on back there. Our weapons are armed and we're prepared for anything. Bring it on, Vietnam. Throw your worst at me. It'll only make the campaign more exciting.

12:32 PM

Scrawled on a small wooden sign was the name "Valisse". God knows what they did to this lost village, but whatever happened, it wasn't pleasent. At all. Valisse seemed to be one of those weird anthro-colonies similar to Casbylon, but with a completely different lineup and a completely different mayor. The town's buildings were crumbling and corpses were rotting away. They weren't shot. They were torched. Burned. Their arsenal of weapons wasn't as abundant as I had anticipated it to be. A M60, two fragmentation grenades, and that's pretty much all we salvaged. Examining the look of the bodies, this place was torn down by its own viet cong militia, as the insignias on the insurgents' armbands matched the flag of the town.

We checked out the exploded remains of the town hall. Apparently, the mayor was gunned down right in his seat. His corpse was still in the desk chair, bullet holes riddled his body. I'm no forensics officer, but determined by the amount of shrapnel in this guy's body, these have had to been hollow points, at least. The blood is still wet and stained on the walls, and by the size of the shell casings on the ground, he probably got shot down by someone with an AK in their hands.

As Genji and I were counting up the casuaties, we found one person. He looked like an orange dog. His name was Biskit, according to his dog tags, and he was a member of the Valisse insurgency. Turns out, he merely had a concussion. He was seemingly the only survivor of whatever hell God had rained down in this village of the damned. Genji and I kicked him around a bit before he woke up, explained the whole thing to us, and begged for mercy. He was shot in the leg by his peers and was left for death. We helped him escape death's cold embrace and bandaged him up, asking him if he wanted to join us and live in Casbylon, to which he obliged.


End file.
